The Bushranger's Daughter by Michelle Worthington

Author:Michelle Worthington
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Big Sky Publishing
Published: 2022-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Sydney

John had chased Minnie until she caught him. Both nineteen years of age, they planned on having a property of their own and were to live at Coongoola Station, north of Cunnamulla. The Harding family left Mr Noble and Jo to run the property and travelled back to Sydney by boat for the wedding, staying at Petty’s Hotel. A trousseau was purchased at David Jones Store, and Ma took Connie and Minnie for a picnic at Hyde Park instead of having a bridal shower.

As they walked past the Mint and the Governor’s house to the newly created paths and plantings, Ma kept lifting and tugging at her skirts. ‘Mind ye don’t walk in any puddles. Ye never can tell if they are made of water in this town.’

Ma might have been exaggerating, but Connie had thought more than once that when the wind was blowing a certain way, Sydney smelled like an outhouse. Silas had told her to watch out for the obelisk facing Bathurst Street, as it was actually a vent for the underground sewer.

Ma hated Sydney. She had hurried the girls past the taverns and cottages of George Street to where the Waterloo warehouse, five storeys high, loomed over the market.

Connie saw a woman in a dress with seven full flounces, each of a different colour, decorated with flowers and beads. A peacock plume stuck up from her frazzled red hair, the same colour as Connie’s, and her great googley eyes rolled about the street. ‘Is that what a princess looks like?’ asked Connie.

‘All the duchesses, countesses, baronesses, lady mayoresses and princesses in the world would naught be caught dead in that getup,’ Ma said with a snicker, grabbing Connie roughly by the forearm and leading her into the market.

Every time a Royal Mail coach passed with a painting of a kangaroo on the side, Ma crossed herself and said a prayer under hear breath. ‘Let’s make this quick.’

Hardworking young girls with freckles, sharp chins and wide foreheads were mostly ignored by the respectable women passing by, but Ma took the time to talk politely while purchasing provisions to take home with them. She wanted to buy Constance her first pair of pantyhose to wear at the wedding. Connie was hoping they were all sold out.

‘Six shillings!’ said the girl at the market stall.

‘Four and six,’ said Ma, who knew the price to a penny.

‘Then five shillings and sixpence to you, Mrs.’

‘Four and six,’ said Ma coldly.

‘Be a sport and split the difference, five bob!’

‘I said four and six, and I mean four and six,’ replied Ma. A scowl was offered as an answer, and Ma – with a faint shrug of her shoulders – walked quickly away, but not far.

‘Mrs, one moment. Take ’em. They’re the last pair.’

Ma smirked and winked at Connie. ‘If you know something to be true and right, my love, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.’

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